482-Insect Safari: The Wondrous World of Everyday Bugs

Full analysis

Host Joe Lamp'l (The Joe Gardener Show) talks with science writer and photographer Margie Patlak about her book Insect Safari, which argues that your own backyard holds more biological drama than most gardeners realize. The episode is light on research citations but offers concrete, low-effort gardening practices that directly support insect populations — and, by extension, the birds that depend on them.

What was covered

• Margie Patlak's backstory — a botany/environmental-studies background followed by 30 years of biomedical science writing; she came to insects late, prompted by reports of colony collapse disorder and broader insect population declines, and is now openly an evangelist for insect conservation.
• Why insects matter to gardeners — Patlak notes insects make up four out of every five animal species on Earth; North America alone has over 4,000 native bee species (not the three or so most people assume). A reported 30% decline in songbird populations in temperate zones is tied to declining insect populations, since insects are the primary food source for nestlings.
• What most gardeners overlook — leaving dead leaves in place (many insects, including luna moths, overwinter in or wrapped in leaves); not cutting plant stems until mid-spring so cavity-nesting bees can complete their brood cycle; keeping dead standing trees ("snags"), which shelter both insects and the birds that eat them.
• The case for non-native annuals — native plants typically bloom for a month or less; Patlak argues supplementing with non-native annuals (petunias, calibrachoa) fills the gaps so insects have continuous forage across the full growing season.
• Insect intelligence — researchers fitted bees with radio-tracking backpacks and found they count landmarks to navigate; ants recognize themselves in mirrors when a paint mark is placed on their foreheads; parasitic wasps are estimated to account for half of all caterpillar mortality and provide pest control for virtually every garden pest, including Japanese beetles.
• How to start your own insect safari — use the free iNaturalist app (photo ID plus expert corroboration); go out at night once or twice a week, since roughly half of all insect species are nocturnal; look inside plant galls; watch for leaf-miner trails as evidence of insects feeding between leaf layers.

Notable claims & predictions

• Margie Patlak: "Insects comprise four out of every five animal species on the planet" — the figure she uses to frame why insect decline is a broad ecological problem, not a niche one.
• Margie Patlak: "There are over 4,000 native bee species in North America" — offered to illustrate how little most people know about the insect life already in their gardens.
• Margie Patlak: "There's been a 30% decline in the number of songbirds being seen in temperate zones" — cited as the downstream consequence of insect loss, and the reason gardening for insects is also gardening for birds.
• Margie Patlak: "Some studies show wasps are just as good as bees in pollination" — offered to reframe wasps as garden allies rather than threats.
• Margie Patlak: "Some people have estimated that one category of wasps — the parasitic wasps — gobble up half of all caterpillars" — presented as evidence for leaving wasps alone even if they look alarming.
• Margie Patlak: "There are 14 more species of moths than butterflies, but most of us don't know them because they work the night shift" — the practical upshot is that a nighttime garden walk with a light reveals a whole layer of insect life most gardeners have never seen.

Fact check

• "Insects comprise four out of every five animal species." Close but imprecise. Insects represent roughly half of all described animal species; when arthropods broadly are included the share rises, but the "four out of five" figure is higher than standard estimates. The directional point — insects are the dominant animal group — is solid; the specific fraction is contested or cherry-picked depending on the taxonomic scope used.
• "Over 4,000 native bee species in North America." Consistent with commonly cited entomological figures (estimates typically run 3,500–4,000+). Not misleading.
• "30% decline in songbird populations in temperate zones." A figure consistent with a widely reported 2019 Science study (Rosenberg et al.) that found roughly 3 billion birds lost in North America since 1970 — approximately 29% of total bird abundance. Patlak's shorthand is a reasonable representation of that finding, though the original study covers all bird groups, not only songbirds.
• "Studies show wasps are just as good as bees in pollination." This is contested and context-dependent. Wasps do visit flowers and transfer pollen, and some research supports a meaningful pollination role, particularly for certain plant species. Framing them as categorically equal to bees as pollinators is an overstatement of what the literature currently supports as a general rule; the more accurate picture is that wasps are useful but typically secondary pollinators compared to bees.
• "Parasitic wasps account for half of all caterpillars." Patlak attributes this to unnamed estimators, not a specific study. The claim is unverified as stated; parasitic wasps (parasitoids) are indeed major caterpillar mortality agents, but a precise "half" figure without a citation should be taken as illustrative rather than established.

Why this matters for you

• A concrete fall to-do: Stop bagging or shredding fallen leaves — rake them onto garden beds instead. They insulate overwintering insects and serve as free mulch. Similarly, hold off cutting down dead plant stems until mid-spring so ground-nesting and cavity bees can complete their brood cycle. These are zero-cost changes with a real ecological payoff.
• Rethink what a "tidy" yard costs: Dead standing trees (snags) and so-called weeds like goldenrod, wild violets, and daisy fleabane all support insects that in turn feed birds. If a snag is safe and out of the way, leaving it is the ecologically better choice.
• A practical new tool: The iNaturalist app (free) identifies insects from a phone photo and logs your sightings geographically, contributing to research on population trends. If you already have a pollinator garden, this is an easy way to understand what's actually using it.
• Interesting, but limited action needed this week: The insect-intelligence findings (bees counting, ants and mirrors) are fascinating but don't change what you grow or how you garden. The practical changes — leaves, stems, snags, continuous bloom, nighttime observation — are the parts worth acting on.